Intolerable Air-Miles Guy

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Bilge Ebiri has hit on something fairly big in an amctv.com article -- Up In The Air is Intolerable Cruelty and vice versa, He mentions five big similarities in the piece (with spoilers!); this evening he passed along a few more by e-mail.

1. Our Cynical Hero, George Clooney

Up in the Air: Termination counselor Ryan Bingham travels the country firing people on behalf of other companies. He's at the top of his field, and he's best-known for a motivational speech he gives to various business groups about shedding all the material and emotional baggage in their figurative "backpacks."

Intolerable Cruelty: Miles Massey is a divorce attorney who spends all his time coldly dividing (or seizing) marital estates. He's at the top of his field, and he's famous for "The Massey Prenup," an iron-clad prenuptial agreement that protects wealthy spouses from losing their assets due to divorce.

2. ...Who Meets His Match

Up in the Air: Alex (Vera Farmiga) seems to know as much about travel, frequent flier mile programs, and rental cars as Ryan does. But they're both lonely, and they find themselves falling for each other in a more profound way.

Intolerable Cruelty: Manipulative, ice-cold lawyer Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is initially on the other side of a divorce case involving one of Miles's clients. But they're both lonely, and they find themselves falling for each other in a more profound way.

3. ...Who Isn't What She Seems to Be

Up in the Air: It turns out that Alex isn't exactly the single road warrior she made Ryan think she was. Instead, she's happily married, with kids -- as Ryan discovers when, in a burst of romantic inspiration, he drops everything and surprises her at her house in Chicago.

Intolerable Cruelty: It turns out that Marylin has been conning Miles all along, and is just after his money -- as he discovers when, in a burst of romantic inspiration, he drops everything and marries her.

4. The Revelatory Convention Speech

Up in the Air: Ryan finally gets the chance to give his "What's in Your Backpack" speech at the very prestigious Goldquest Convention. But after taking the stage, he realizes that he loves Alex and no longer believes his own cynical spiel.

Intolerable Cruelty: Miles has to keynote the annual convention of the National Organization of Marital Attorneys Nationwide. But after taking the stage, he realizes he loves Marylin and no longer believes his own cynical spiel.

5. A Last-Minute Reprieve!

Up in the Air: Ryan is about to be grounded for good thanks to a newfangled virtual firing system...but then someone they fired earlier commits suicide. Faster than you can say "deus ex maquina," the new system is scrapped, and Ryan goes back up in the air.

Intolerable Cruelty: Miles is about to lose everything he's got after Marylin decides to divorce him. But then Miles's former client and Marylin's ex-husband has a sudden heart attack, she comes into a ton of money, and Miles gets the upper hand in their divorce proceedings.

Extras: (a) Loaded exchanges with airplane crews (the stewardess saying "you're gonna win" to Clooney and later saying "you didn't win" to CZJ; the conversation with Sam Elliott-as-god in UITA); (b) The
craven boss who likes to quote statistics; (c) The earnest travel companion (Clooney's fellow lawyer in Intolerable Cruelty is less severe than Anna Kendrick in UITA but they're both essentially earnest professionals who have bought into their companies' official lines of bullshit).

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 7, 2009 at 7:27 PM

comment #1

raygo says ...

I seem to be one of the few people who really like Intolerable Cruelty. Getting CZJ to play what is essentially (to many people) a thinly disguised version of herself was brilliant. I think it's very underrated.

Posted by raygo at December 7, 2009 7:48 PM

comment #2

The Winchester says ...

It's the Delgo/Avatar argument in three wolf's clothing. It's the singer, not the song. And I say that as a fan of both Intolerable Cruelty and Up In The Air. (Though I far prefer Up In The Air).

Posted by The Winchester at December 7, 2009 9:10 PM

comment #3

barryegan says ...

Machina.

Posted by barryegan at December 7, 2009 9:53 PM

comment #4

DeeZee says ...

Tales from the Script: The Motion Picture.
http://tinyurl.com/yfpfcp5
Big surprise. Studio insider hearts Red Dawn remake.
http://tinyurl.com/yllsuuv
The Hobbit casting begins.
http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2009/12/peter-jackson-says-hobbit-casting-begins-this-week.html
Bay dabbles in unmentionables.
http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2009/12/michael-bay-directs-victorias-secrets-commercial.html
Congrats, The Dude.
http://tinyurl.com/yghnqxf
And Leslie Caron.
http://tinyurl.com/yfu9ydt
Memoirs of a love hotel.
http://tinyurl.com/ygn4glh
Yeah, blame $1 dvd rentals for your shitty output.
http://tinyurl.com/y85nl35
The Oscar twitters cause controversy.
http://tinyurl.com/ya5c3u5
Variety focuses on actor contenders.
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=hottopic&id=3837&cache=false
Steve McQueen's new gig.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118012362.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Andrea Savage is a schmuck.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118012378.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
R.I.P. Tikhonov and Richard Todd.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118012372.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118012365.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Avatar's really 161 mins, according to
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/15859/news-shorts-december-7th-2009
Oh, and Duvall might be a contender for Don Quixote. Plus, for some reason, Michelle Williams is Marilyn Monroe.
Taken writer's next gig.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118012351.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Posted by DeeZee at December 7, 2009 10:36 PM

comment #5

qwiggles says ...

Analogy fail.

1) Ryan Bingham isn't so cynical; he believes in loyalty, after all, and really wants to meet that pilot. And though he really loves the job because it keeps him from landing, he means it when he says there is a dignity in what he does.

2/3) There's no "but" in his relationship with Alex: they hit it off immediately, and are never at odds.

4) Granted. Analogy point scored.

5) Ryan being sent back up in the air is not a deus ex machina because, although he initially resisted being grounded, and would obviously still resent having to live in Omaha if it came to that, he has made a very strong effort to ground himself in other ways at this point. The reveal comes off as a joke on Ryan by the universe. Being sent back up in the air this time, after what has just happened, only reminds him of how alone he is when he has just made his biggest, most failed outreach.

Bonus: Natalie does not buy the company line: she knows what she is selling (and has the flow charts to back it), but that makes her shrewd, not earnest; we find out why she's in Omaha halfway through, and it isn't because she believes in firing people online, or has any loyalty to Craig Gregory, who she quits by text.

Posted by qwiggles at December 7, 2009 11:31 PM

comment #6

Bilge says ...

The point of the comparison isn't really to try and damn UP IN THE AIR -- I actually like the film. (I also love INTOLERABLE CRUELTY.) It's more to just draw attention to some of the similarities.

BTW, the key point in #5 is that both third act "reprieves" turn on a sudden and unexpected death. That kind of got lost in the editing.

Posted by Bilge at December 7, 2009 11:53 PM

comment #7

moorish says ...

I absolutely LOVE Intolerable Cruelty. Never understood the bashing this film took on release and continues to take in pontificating Coen retrospective articles.

Posted by moorish at December 8, 2009 1:13 AM

comment #8

Sam says ...

intolerable cruelty is 10/10. no problems. it was before mean girls too. real progressively witty.
ladykillers is ace too... anyone watched that lately??
how the hell did it get a bad name? critical copycatting???

you know, of course, that this means the coens have NEVER made a bad film.
spooky, yeah?

Posted by Sam at December 8, 2009 5:22 AM

comment #9

The Hoyk says ...

I must disagree with you, Sam. O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU was smug, preening slapstick mixed with "aren't-we-so-clever" ODYSSEY allusions, INTOERABLE CRUELTY was boring nasty people predictably screwing each other over whilst the audience is left to wonder who to give a rat's aspirin about, and THE LADYKILLERS betrays Tom Hanks terrific performance with terrible flat jokes about rap music and IBS and worst of all, precious little actual ladykilling. Were it not for the disciplined greatness of NO COUNTRY, the Coens would have become culturally irrelevant after that trio of fail.

Posted by The Hoyk at December 8, 2009 6:16 AM

comment #10

snoop says ...

I thought of this as I was watching the movie, especially with the speech thing. When he got up for his speech at the end, I was expecting him to pontificate as he did in Intolerable Creulty, but then he just jetted out of there, and, to be honest, I found that pretty refreshing. This is a man who doesn't waste time--he wouldn't give a speech as the goofy Clooney character in Intolerable Creulty did.

Even though they are similar, Up in the Air feels like a tighter thing, and it's Clooney's best take on his signature role. This ties into something Jeff said abotu Colin Firth the other day--the idea that you play the same thing all the time and just give it variations. In many of his movies, Clooney plays the slick/suave "scoundrel" who comes to reassess his life in one way or another. Ryan Bingham shares thematic space with Mr. Fox, Michael Clayton, Miles Massey and a host of other Clooney characters (Danny Ocean and Jack Foley are in this same space, but I'm not sure they learn much or grow). The comparison is just more noticeable with these two films because here you're comparing romantic comedies to each other, not a Tony Gilroy thriller.

Posted by snoop at December 8, 2009 6:56 AM

comment #11

moorish says ...

O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU? is epic genius from start to finish! Superb soundtrack as well. How anyone can not love this movie is beyond me.

INTOLERABLE CRUELTY is brilliant too - totally misses the point to dismiss them as "boring nasty people" - they're never boring, for starters.

Fair play though, LADYKILLERS is shit.

Posted by moorish at December 8, 2009 8:00 AM

comment #12

Chicago48 says ...

So which movie should I see?

Posted by Chicago48 at December 8, 2009 8:35 AM

comment #13

The Winchester says ...

O Brother, Intolerable Cruelty, Ladykillers, Burn After Reading - all flawed films that have good aspects about them. But a flawed,`mediocre Coen Brothers' movie is usually far more interesting than a hit from anyone else.

Posted by The Winchester at December 8, 2009 9:27 AM

comment #14

nola says ...

I love Intolerable Cruelty as well.

I read some where that the film did better overseas? Is that true. If so, that's unusual for a comedy.

Posted by nola at December 8, 2009 11:21 PM

comment #15

teayneverdie says ...

http://manager.co.th/CBiZReview/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9530000022997

Posted by teayneverdie at February 23, 2010 9:37 AM

comment #16

wenn522 says ...

This ties into something Jeff said abotu Colin Firth the other day--the idea that you play the same thing all the time and just give it variations. In many of his movies, Clooney plays the slick/suave "scoundrel" who comes to reassess his life in one way or another.

Posted by wenn522 at March 3, 2010 8:49 PM

comment #17

jimb12345 says ...

Up in the air was such a good movie. This is so good how you linked all of this. It really makes you think.
whistleblower policy

Posted by jimb12345 at March 9, 2010 2:56 PM

comment #18

davemartial223 says ...

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Posted by davemartial223 at March 16, 2010 11:27 PM

comment #19